Okay, How Do I Begin?

[Greenlea]

My DH and I toyed with the idea of a homebirth with a midwife when I found out I was pregnant. I am now 20 weeks, and just found out I have been denied the insurance I have been trying to get for months. We are now looking into UC.

This is my 2nd child. My first was a water birth in a hospital with a midwife, no pain meds, all natural. I had no complications with the pregnancy or the birth. I have had no complications thus far with this pregnancy.

So I guess I just have a ton of questions regarding UC. My DH's cousin had a UC with her 2nd child, so I plan on talking with her, but can anyone recommend any books or anything where I could get some more info?

My DH is a licensed EMT / firefighter and we have a friend on our block that is a paramedic - so we feel safe having this baby at home UC. There's just things I question; what to do if I tear, what to do with the placenta, etc.

Thanks for any help!

[LilMamiBella]

You should check out the resources thread stickied at the top of this board. It has lots of great information. Some books that helped me prepare were:
Emergency Childbirth, Hearts and Hands, and Unassisted Childbirth.

[zapzipzee]

My DH is a firefighter/paramedic and I've been doing a ton of research. Most of what I am learning is the opposite of what he was taught.

For example, we got in an argument over whether it was necessary to suction the baby when it was born. My research (peer reviewed journal articles) showed that using a bulb suction at birth is not indicated, nor does it make better outcomes. If the baby does need to be suctioned, there is a special device (I think it's called a del luce or something like that), that actually does deep suctioning that gets rid of the meconium in the lungs...not something the bulb suction can do.

They're also taught that the abdomen needs to be massaged and there needs to be traction on the cord for the placenta to come out. It should come out on its own. Massaging it can make parts of it detatch and pulling on the cord and can actually cause hemmorage!

The best thing to do is nothing. Just let your body do everything. He can do stuff like getting you washclothes for your head, rubbing your back/feet, getting you fluids and food if you want.... watching for hemmorhage, taking notes and pictures....

What frustrates me is that DH refuses to do any research on his own because "that's what he went to college for and he knows what to do." So it is up to me to tell him about these studies that have been done and help him wrap his brain around the oposite of what he's been taught. My biggest fear is that DH will do something durring birth that is contraindicated just because that is what he was tuaght, and I didn't know about it to do any research on it.

We're planning a water birth, and doing perennial massage, I'm also not going to push unless I feel the need to, or there's something wrong and I need to get the baby out quickly, so we're hoping there are no tears. If I do though, and it is bad, I'll probably just go to the urgent care to be stitched up...which I DONT want.

As for the placenta, we're a little stumped on what to do with it too. Some people cut it up and freeze it for later or eat it... some burry it under a tree. At this point it has no meaning to me so I dont feel the need to burry it, and I dont think I could stomach eating it....

Good Luck!

[SublimeBirthGirl]

Have you taken a good childbirth class before? If you can find one with UC-supportive teacher that would be a good start if you haven't already done it (just to generally increase your knowledge and just as importantly, your DH's knowledge). Read good birth stories & whatever else you can find. I liked The Power of Pleasurable Childbirth by Laurie Morgan.